Bishop Allen

There’s very little I have to do at this point that I don’t want to do…When I get up in morning, there’s a song stuck in my head. It’s exactly what I want to do.

story by Garin Pirnia
photo by Aubrey Edwards

As the story goes, musicians Justin Rice and Christian Rudder met while attending Harvard. After college the guys lived together on Bishop Allen Drive, where they recorded 2003’s self-released debut bedroom album Charm School. Eventually they moved to Brooklyn, where in 2006 they decided to release a new EP every month — an ambitious project referred to as The 12 EPs. Through this unique undertaking, the band demonstrated perseverance as well as a rare ability to consistently write and record new material worth hearing. In 2007, they released The Broken String on the Dead Oceans label, containing several re-mastered tracks from the 12 EPs project alongside a couple new songs — which helped establish the band as a highly sought-after indie-pop group. In the coming months, Bishop Allen will release its third full-length entitled Grrr…, which will surely up their profile in both indie and mainstream markets. On tour, they bring forth a rotating lineup of friends who take turns playing bass, percussion, and strings. Chicago Innerview spoke with Rice about the new record, foreign languages, and sharing screen time with the dude from Gremlins.

“I have listened to over 1,000 records in my life and each of them has influenced me in one way or the other,” says Rice. He classifies Bishop’s music as upbeat rock ‘n’ roll and cites influences from Tom Waits and The Kinks to The Modern Lovers. The alacrity of their songs is attributed to the inclusion of a toy piano, xylophone, strings, and guitar accompanied by Rice’s lilting vocals. There’s a certain romanticism to Charm School as displayed on tracks like “Quarter to Three”, with the lyrics: “Whenever light shines down on misery / It can only make things worse / On the day we met she burned so bright / I was lucky as a gypsy curse.” On “Busted Heart,” the band channels Lonesome Crowded West Modest Mouse. Rice even yelps like Isaac Brock.

Not many acts have attempted something like the 12 EPs project, an important part of Bishop Allen’s discography and claim to fame. Of those EPs, February and July remain the project’s most popular entries. “There was definitely a point where we felt like stopping,” comments Rice. “April was the hardest one. After March, we kind of could’ve quit, but there was something about getting through April that made giving up seem lame.”

The Broken String and Grrr… sees the band progressing into more melodic pop proclivities. The new record references animals in several songs, leading to the story of how the album title was born. “We wanted to make a record that was really fun and one that was loose and not overly serious,” says Rice. “We were sitting around trying to come up with a title. There are animals in the lyrics and a lot of the songs are more like an inventory and a list. There was something about it, [more] like a field guide than a book of short stories. We wanted to have a title with animals. Field Guide felt too ponderous, so we came up with Grrr…. It evokes animals in playful way.” New songs “The Ancient Commonsense of Things” and “Shanghaied” integrate xylophone, infectious “oohs” and “laahs” and light guitar rock. Being on a label hasn’t changed things for the band, as they still pretty much do whatever the hell they want — there’s simply more resources available to them now. Both Rudder and Rice collaborate on writing and recording songs, but bring other musicians into the studio to make things sound more interesting.

Besides being a full-time musician, Rice is also a burgeoning actor. Last year Bishop Allen’s song “Middle Management” (from The Broken String) was featured prominently in the trailer and soundtrack for the tween romantic comedy Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist. The band even makes a brief appearance playing in a club. Rice says that director Peter Sollett (who also directed the 2002 indie gem Raising Victor Vargas) saw the band perform in NYC and asked them to be a part of it. Rice also stars in last year’s indie film Let Them Chirp Awhile, directed by his friend Jonathan Blitstein. Chirp co-stars Zach Galligan, best known as Billy from Gremlins. Themes dealing with the malaise of life unfolding in a post-collegiate real world often seem to surface in the films in which Rice stars. “It’s instructive for me to work with other people and be around other people,” explains Rice. “I like working with friends, but the truth is I’m not really an actor and I haven’t studied it or pursued it. There are things you’re intuitively supposed to do, but my stream is extremely limited and I don’t put in a tremendous amount of effort. Actors have to go on auditions and I don’t want to face rejection. I like to act, but I want to do it more sporadically.”

Despite his busy film career, Rice’s main focus remains Bishop Allen. He says he enjoys touring and can actually write new material while on the road. “Touring is really fun, especially if you do it reasonably,” according to Rice. “You don’t want to go forever and play places you don’t like and not like the people around you. You can wear yourself down by doing something too much or going on tour with people you don’t like. We got all the things right, for now.” Live, Rice says the band sounds more raucous than their recordings. He also mentions that every time the band plays Chicago, something weird seems to occur. When they played Subterranean last November, their van broke down and Rudder had to miss the gig. When they played Wicker Park Fest a couple of years ago, an amp died and two of Rice’s guitar strings broke. He’s eagerly anticipating the next strange occurrence, but hopes that some day they can break the streak.

Rice says the best part of being in the band is “finishing a new song that you really like and the feeling you get when it comes together. There’s a moment when it’s going to be finished and you know you’re going to like it and this thing that didn’t exist before is going to exist.” Rice thinks the worst part of being in a band is dealing with all the equipment. “You spend two hours setting up to play 45 minutes,” he remarks. Rice’s New Year’s resolution? To learn Spanish, French, Swedish, and Portuguese. “It’s cool to know other languages when traveling because it makes you seem less of an asshole,” he says. “People in other countries like it when you speak another language.” The year ahead is going to be full of touring, promoting the new record, and keeping up Bishop Allen’s momentum as one of those “bands to watch” in 2009.

“I think when we started out, it was a hobby or something we did in the bedroom and now it takes up our entire life,” says Rice. “There’s very little I have to do at this point that I don’t want to do. It’s hard because if we stop writing songs or putting on live shows, we’ll end. When I get up in morning, there’s a song stuck in my head. It’s exactly what I want to do.”

Bishop Allen will perform with The Donkeys, Tulsa, and Vacations as part of the Tomorrow Never Knows Festival at Schubas on January 18.